Ollie in Between

by Jess Callans

As endearing as it is humorous, this debut middle grade novel by Jess Callans is a tender, queer coming of age story about the courage it takes to find your own voice and choosing to just be.

Puberty, AKA the ultimate biological predator, is driving a wedge between soon-to-be 13 year old Ollie Thompson and their lifelong friends. Too much of a girl for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girly enough for their boy-crazed BFF, Ollie doesn’t know where they fit. And their usual ability to camouflage? Woefully disrupted.

When a school project asks them to write an essay on what it means to be a woman (if anyone’s got an answer, that’d be great), and one of their new friends is the target of bullying, Ollie is caught between the safety of fleeing from their own differences or confronting the risks of fighting to take their own path forward.

Genres: Middle Grade, LGBT, Queer, Contemporary, Coming Of Age, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2025

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really felt like had I been more self-aware as a child I would have been Ollie. Everything about them is so relatable and how they experience gender and sexuality and friendships and hobbies is so similar to me that I really felt right at home with this book. It absolutely wrenched my heart strings a little bit and I am so happy that I got a chance to read this and that it exists for other people to find.

My autism as a kid and teenager was more of the just do what others are doing and everything will be fine and in a way Ollie is like that as well but they recognize that something is different with them. I didn't notice that as a child. I just tried to blend in and do what my two friends were doing. so seeing Ollie start this book with two main friends who both end up being a bit disappointing and finding a group of friends that is so much more inclusive was really heartwarming. I loved their relationship with their sister and their super awkward definitely autistic dad.

this one does deal with some queer phobia and transphobia from both other students and from Ollie's grandparents. I understand that could be difficult to read so if that is going to be triggering maybe skip this one. I will say that it's all dealt with and Ollie is supported so do it that what you will.

One of the big highlights for this for me was Ollie's interviews with women in their life. and then reading the authors know at the end that this is something they did in college was really fascinating for me. I love that the general consensus is that no one really knows what womanhood is and that felt very relatable as an AFAB agender person.

this is very much a character driven book and there's not a ton of plot going on. I would classify it almost as a slice of life but where Ollie is dealing with their mom's death and figuring out their own gender, autism, and sexuality as a preteen.

Iranian American MC, autistic, aspec questioning, nonbinary

[Annine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to RBMedia and Recorded Books for the audioARC.

🩵 trans, non-binary and queer kids
🩷 figuring out who you are
🤍 being brave enough to be who you are
🩷 queer kids gravitating towards eachother
🩵 autism rep, anxiety/panic attacks, half-Iranian non-binary MC

I just loved this. So many relatable things with Ollie's gender journey, even though they are 12 and I was ~20 when I started questioning my gender. This book questions what it means to be a woman, and shows that most women can't really give a satisfying answer to that.

This is a middle-grade book, but I think it works for any ages, and especially for people questioning their gender or people wanting to learn more about trans/non-binary experience.

The audiobook is narrated by Vico Ortiz, which I think was a perfect fit. I love the way they tell a story and I love their voice.

cw: transphobia, homophobia, previous death of a parent, misgendering

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really transported me back to middle school, puberty, figuring out who you are and who your friends are…I loved how we were learning about Ollie at the same time they were learning about themself. Lots of moments that felt like something I had lived through in middle school. Lots of good lessons - no matter your age - and I hope everybody gets a chance to read this book!!

[haley ⊹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

you couldn't pay me to be 12 years old again

[Rapunzel Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love Ollie In Between, but it consistently fell somewhat short of my expectations. I’m always seeking out new middle-grade stories of nonbinary and trans self-discovery, and based on the description, I was hoping Ollie In Between would find its place among my favorites. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite manage that. There was a lot to enjoy about this book, from the thoughtful exploration of womanhood and how the difficulty to define gender makes it even more difficult to understand your nonbinary identity to the Ollie’s complex family dynamics to the transphobia and homophobia of their peers to the new friend group they find themself part of. However, it fell a little flat for me. This story felt a little more wandering than I wanted it to, a little too aimless to be character-driven, and though I appreciated elements of the ending, it was a little too tidy for me. Overall, I think that Ollie In Between is a valuable book to read and share, because I think many readers discovering themselves will find themselves in it—I think I would’ve five or six years ago. However, I wasn’t personally a huge fan.

2.5/5 stars, rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

[Bethany Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my GOSH I loved this book. It’s absolutely a perfect middle grade and finding out it’s an homage to one of my favorite books Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret!? Amazing. I could not recommend this book more, and I’m a little bit in love with @jesscallans’ writing. Wow!!!

I LOVED Ollie’s Journey in this book. They were so incredibly relatable, and their thoughts on puberty and growing up and figuring out who you are - phew. Way too real. I loved how they created a little found family at school, who they could love and trust. I LOVED the queer kids at school. They gave me the warm fuzzies.

This book is incredibly well written and the narration by @puertoricaninja is not to be missed. Vico brought such an amazing voice to Ollie and all of the characters. Their interpretation was amazing.

Love love love!!!!!

[Winnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!!

I had the biggest smile on my face after completing this wholesome novel. Ollie's journey discovering their gender identity mirrored so many of my own moments growing up as a confused, scared, and most definitely not cis girl.

Jess Callans wrote this book with the prompt from school that asks, "What defines a woman/womanhood?", and coincidentally, our main protagonist, Ollie, dives in their health class to answer the very same question in their essay. After interviewing several adults, friends, and their sister, they are just as frustrated and confused as ever.

What comes out of the essay, and the end of the novel, is a teen with inclusive, queer, and loyal friends in a queer book club.

Even though this book is written for juniors/middle-grade level readers, it touches on some really difficult topics and themes. I wish I could bottle up the feelings I had while reading this and carry it with me always, because it makes me feel safe and cozy.

I hope Jess Callans will continue to write more books because I am definitely a new fan!

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content warnings: misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, menstruation, bullying, dysphoria, death of a parent (in the past), panic attacks

4.5 stars

A beautiful and heartfelt examination of the complexities of puberty in general and specifically when one is questioning one's gender identity. I loved Ollie as a protagonist, and while I desperately wish there had been SOME examination of Ollie's fairly obvious neurodivergence, I adored this nonetheless.

As others have said, I wish this had included Ollie's essay on what it means to be a woman, but I also kind of understand why it wasn't?

[Karly Thayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I needed growing up 😭

I relate so much to Ollie, from being obsessed with National Geographic magazines as a kid to experiencing anxiety/panic attacks to feeling not quite like a woman but not quite like a man. I wish I had the same level of self-awareness and access to resources Ollie did when when I was their age so I could have better understood what I was feeling at the time rather than just now starting to figure it all out in my twenties (but hey, better late than never right???)

One of my favorite parts was how differently the ladies answered the “what does it mean to a be a woman?” question throughout the book. It was cool hearing all their unique perspectives, and served as a good reminder that there’s no right way to “be” a gender.

Since I listened to the audiobook version, I also want to add that I really enjoyed the narrator and they seemed like a fantastic choice to voice Ollie!

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for the audio ARC! 🫶🏼

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!!! It made me cry several times and does such a good job of explaining the whole Gender experience

[Camille Callant · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If you never see yourself in the world, how are you supposed to think you can exist?"

[Pujashree · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could've been a heartachingly bleak read in this current climate of widespread and state-sanctioned hostility against trans and nonbinary children. And not gonna lie, Ollie's justified fear and paralysis over their identity did gut me and took me back to similar feelings of shame and insufficiency as a genderqueer child. But ultimately this ended up being rather wholesome, with no particularly horrific tragedies befalling queer children, and transphobia of all ages being called out and put in their places, but not magically converted out of their bigotry. I like that for a middle grade book, even if it lacks nuance for even a slightly older young adult reader. Ollie's interview project, akin to the author's which led to both of their gender journey, is super interesting in revealing how everyone in the spectrum of gender is isolated in their own ways, and that was refreshing to see in a middle grade book. That said, the part I wish would be been explored a bit more was about their Persian side of the family and what that heritage brought to the table of the gender questioning beyond just the food and the vague memories of a deceased mom. The choice of Vico Ortiz as the audiobook narrator is always brilliant. Thanks to Netgalley for both an ebook and audiobook ARC.

[Star · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content warnings: transphobia, bullying, references to past parental death.

Rep: Ollie (MC) is Iranian-American, nonbinary, autistic (not on page, but definitely is), and also has a-spec vibes. Side POC characters, side queer characters.


I got this as an audio early listening copy from net galley - so thank you to them for that.

This one was a 'right in the feels' kind of book. I wish I'd had something like this when I was younger. It explored the not wanting a period issues that I felt the same with as a kid.
I loved their determination to find out what a 'woman' really was, and it felt so true to have so many people not be able to define what it actually is or meant.
Anyway, this one was very lovely.

[seasalted.citrus (Topaz, Oliver) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! Here is my merged review.

3.5 stars rounded up. (Although, I rounded it down on NetGalley. I don’t know, this was a tricky one to rate because of my experience with it.) As a reader who doesn’t fit neatly into the gender binary, I was really looking forward to this book, although me and Ollie’s coming out experiences are vastly different. Trans middle grade, especially novels with non-white protagonists, is extremely and troublingly rare. Although I gave this book a lower rating, I don’t think that should discourage others from reading this: “Ollie In Between” provides a visceral, often deeply uncomfortable, glimpse into entering puberty in a body your true self isn’t recognized in. Ollie’s dysphoria and anxiety goes so much deeper than a stereotypical, “born in the wrong body” trans narrative. Grief, family dynamics, and gender were handled in such a way that it brought me to tears (and, fine, ONE breakdown).

With that said, my main issues come from both the pacing and the ending. If you don’t relate to Ollie’s story, there isn’t much to get out of it. While it’s not totally slice-of-life and is still driven heavily by external conflict, the writing tries to be more introspective, something that I felt was dulled by Ollie’s circling lines of thinking as they struggle to grow into their identity. The ending was also frustratingly optimistic, which I understand is to give the target demographic hope, but to me it just felt like forgetting the actions and hurt of certain characters that were especially cruel towards Ollie (and unarguably fueled their spirals). I’m a bit iffy on one of those cases, though, because at least with that particular character it was implied that Ollie had some wishful thinking (which, unfortunately understandable).

I did like the autism representation, though. There were some very graphic sensory overload scenes that showed how emotional triggers lead to them just as much as physical ones. I also felt Ollie being neurodivergent (and already struggling to fit in with their peers) added a layer to their already complicated gender identity.

I’m still glad this book exists. Unsure of if it’ll reach more kids, or adults who read middle grade, though. (I’m hoping the former, but with the writing style, and how triggering it could be, I don’t know.)

To trans kin who’ll be reading this, here’s a list of TWs, since I would’ve found them helpful: Graphic dysphoria and queerphobia (including some deadnaming— more minor, since Ollie and the others doesn’t recognize it as such yet), panic attacks including sensory overload, grief and off-page death of a parent, and some thoughts of self harm.

[suvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ollie in Between is an absolutely stunning book about trying to figure out who you are and who you want to be and finding who your place in the world. I think my life would have been a lot easier if I had a book like this when I was in middle school because I wouldn't have felt so very alone in the world because if I think back to that time, I remember it as a long line of events where I was somewhere on the scale from little anxious to utterly terrified.

Ollie's thoughts and actions are some that I recognise in myself as an autistic person. I do not know if it was intended that way but Ollie does read very much autistic to me. Which brings to me the fact that this book is pitched as "endearing and humorous" and as I often do, I fail to see the humorous part in this book. I have noticed this pattern of characters reading as autistic to me and someone calling it funny? What's that about? Is it me or is it everyone else? Will report back if I ever figure that out!

Ollie's journey with gender is also very relatable to me and I think life could have been easier that way too if I had a book like this when I was younger and was a bit more self-aware. Or perhaps it would have made me even more terrified about everything. Who knows. If anyone is curious, I have yet to figure things out with gender. But I am also at point in my life where I couldn't care less about gender. Like, y'all, we are on a floating rock in space??

Anyways, Ollie in Between was a comforting book to me and one that I will be thinking about for a very long time to come.

I should read middle grade more often, had great time! (I cried twice) Would 100% recommend!

"I think kids' books give you happy endings because it's the only place you'll ever get them."

[Madelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an awesome book. I loved Ollie and getting to watch them experience their place in the world and also so desperate to fit in.

It felt so easy for me to go back in time and remember myself at this age, and just truly how difficult everything feels. To fit in, to find yourself, to know yourself, to find friends, to try to feel close to your family, to find out what you like, etc. It all feels like so much. I think Callans did an incredible job of displaying these feelings and emotions in Ollie for the reader. It felt so real, like I was experiencing it in real time with them.

I feel like this book is so important, not only those questions their gender identity but for everyone else as well. It’s crucial to remember that everyone else experiences the world different than ourselves. No two people are the same, and that’s the beauty of diversity and inclusion. I loved how Ollie got to see and experience kids their age stick up for them and their friends. I loved the Queer Book Club and how those friends allowed Ollie to question and slowly accept themselves. It’s important to stick up for others in the face of bullying and harassment, and I loved moments where we got to see that and how it showed Ollie’s old friends just how important it is to go against the status quo.

CW: transphobia, homophobia, bullying, sexism, misogyny, panic attacks/disorders, body shaming, death of parent (off page, before book time period)

[Eloise · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5
Too much of a girl for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girly enough for their boy-crazed BFF, Ollie doesn’t know where they fit anymore. When a school project asks them to write an essay on what it means to be a woman, Ollie finds themself torn between the safety of hiding and the risk of embracing their truth.

This middle-grade novel about a nonbinary kid coming into their own is absolutely beautiful. As an adult navigating similar questions, it felt incredibly healing to read. So many of Ollie’s thoughts around gender, identity, and being seen as a woman were deeply resonant, right in the feels, again and again. I'm so happy that kids today have access to stories like this.

Slightly disappointed that Ollie was clearly written as autistic but it never got mentioned at any point. I guess that's something else they're going to have to figure out, but it could have been briefly mentioned already...

[isabella. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC!

This book follows Ollie, a nonbinary child, who’s working on a project for health class to figure out what womanhood means while also trying to figure who they are and where they fit.

I really loved this book! I may have teared up a few times while I was reading. I really enjoyed the discussions Ollie would have about womanhood and what it means to the people she interviewed. I also liked seeing how all of these discussions ended up helping Ollie figure out who they are and find a new friend group who accepts them for who they are.

I can definitely see this book being helpful to people of all ages, queer or not, since we’re all just trying to figure what it means to be us. I’m excited to read more books by Jess in the future.

actual rating: 4.5 stars

[Josie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m middle aged, ADHD (maybe low support needs AuDHD? Not worth investigating right now), and cisgender with no strong feelings about my gender other than appreciating some of the social rewards of presenting femme and being deeply uninterested in pushing back against norms with my own presentation.

I found so much to relate to in this book. Puberty was hard for me. I didn’t feel prepared for it. I didn’t feel like I had much community or support through it. Middle school then High school the darkest time of my life.

Reading Ollies story was healing for my inner child. Seeing many of my struggles reflected in Ollie’s neurodivergence gave me time to reflect on my own experiences and reframe them.

This is my favorite quote: “I think girlhood is trying to understand how to be a woman, like any woman or the right woman, and womanhood is figuring out what being a woman means to you”

And I think it translates beautifully to a gender-free concept - childhood is trying the play act at a version of yourself that makes society happy, but truly coming of age is accepting that you’ll never fit comfortably in someone else’s box and decide to lean in to your inner self.

[Line · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so cute. I loved how the author made us feel the way that Ollie felt. They put us into Ollie's world and it really painted the picture of what it felt to realize your gender identity, all while not really knowing what gender identity is and how it's supposed to make you feel. They also didn't sacrifice a plot for how the feelings were shown, it wrapped up nicely. I also love that they didn't write Ollie with parents or a sister who disapproved of who they were, that there were other sides to coming out and being queer and that it can be a mix-match of a support system and those who shouldn't be in your life. At points I disliked how it was structured, it could be a little confusing at part, but all in all, I love Ollie's story and their character development. I also loved how their story didn't end when the book ended, it was very clear that they were still on a journey.

[Andrew William · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5)

this was very cute!! I loved the found family that Oliver had with the queer book club, I love the representation of queer joy and the representation in general, and I loved Ollie as a character. I think they had such good charm and realistic thinking for a middle schooler. Their thought spirals felt very realistic and they were such a well thought out character.

i think the side characters and some of the plot lines could've had some better development, or like more time spent with them, i think the book was a bit too short, and after a while some of the repetition in the prose felt a little too repetitive.

while not a new favorite its definitely something I would reccomend and I know have a new author to keep an eye on :)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ollie is such an engaging, relatable protagonist. I loved the exploration of what it means to be a girl/woman, and how socially-driven these labels are. This will speak to so many middle schoolers who have their own questions about adolescence and beyond.

[BooksAsDreams (Tiffany)]

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC!

[Boooks with Tokyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5⭐️ First of all, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an arc of “Ollie in between”. This book means so much to me 🖤 Even if i’m not experiencing exactly what Ollie was going through, there were a lot of times throughout the book where i saw myself in they/them. I highly recommend this book to absolutely everyone, especially to those who ever felt like they don’t belong. I will 100% buy this book to annotate it and add it to my collection ✨🌈

[Lore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars. This is the story of Ollie—a biracial kid in middle school grappling with the loss of their mother and their own intense emotions about puberty and gender.

“But what if growing up honest means that I don’t know whether the people I love most deeply will love the deepest parts of me in this world where so many people would rather have me dead or different or at least so out of sight that they can pretend I don’t exist?”

As someone who doesn’t fit in the gender binary, this book called to me and I was so very excited to read it. And for what it is, I loved it. It’s a book I would have gobbled up as a kid as there was so much I related too. I thoroughly enjoyed that this was more nuanced and deeper than other books I’ve read featuring trans MCs. Reading between the lines, Ollie is also neurodivergent and I appreciated how the author leaned into that with how Ollie perceived the world and questioned it.

The author’s note said this was inspired by Judy Blume’s Are You There God It’s Me Margaret, which I really didn’t like as a kid (I did not understand the period obsession). And I’m glad there’s now another perspective out there on puberty, womanhood, and identity. I really appreciated the message that there is no one way to be a woman and that periods just are and really don’t need to be celebrated.

My reasoning for deducting stars is the pacing and the how this wraps up. It was a rather slow, character driven book with a lot of introspection from Ollie and not so much action. Which is fine, but sometimes I felt like we got lost in Ollie’s thoughts and were missing out on character interactions that could have shown us their point even better. While I did love the family dynamics, I felt like both dad and Lila were kind of flat characters and when Ollie was going through some big emotions and getting their period, Lila was just absent, and there was never a scene where they reconciled what Lila had previously stated about trans folks. I did love dad’s reaction to it all—it felt more genuine than Lila’s.

I also felt like the ending was too neatly wrapped up. Ollie’s grief about their mother was a passenger the entire book. I expected some kind of realization or something to at least happen to the letters that they had written to her. It felt like a missed opportunity with Cal who also was seen at the throne. I also don’t understand Cal’s and Nate’s change in heart. There was really no catalysis for it, only Ollie calling them out, which fine, but at that age I think you need more than words from a friend to realize going against the grain is the right thing to do, especially in Nate’s case—I would have liked to have seen him interact positively with Ollie more through out the book so that him showing up at the end made sense. While I’m all for happy endings, especially for queer books, they also should be realistic and true to the characters.

Overall, I feel this is an important book and has so many relatable moments. I just wish there weren’t so many missed opportunities and the end better reflected the characters.

[K.C. Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I recommend this book, but I REALLY recommend the audiobook because Vico Ortiz, as always, knocks it the whole way out of the park.

So, I’m… agender, maybe, definitely not gender conforming anyway. And I ask a lot of questions when reading books, particularly books for kids, that tackle gender. This is mostly because I feel like kids’ books try to simplify gender, or even just hone in on a tidy answer about how to define what gender is. I have some thoughts about how Ollie’s interview project (based, it seems, on a project by the author) portrays womanhood. Most of the women in included in this book are more traditionally femme, and I would have liked to see a bit more diversity there. Not that this would have changed anything for Ollie’s ID, of course, but it ended up feeling slightly stilted in terms of characters who DO identify as women. This device is trying to pull double duty in both helping Ollie try to understand their own confusion, and in defining the amorphous thing that is womanhood (and gender in general). I think it was more successful in the former than the latter.

Other than that, I quite enjoyed this, although the end felt a little too easy in someways. I get why that is, though. We deserve happy conclusions right now. The middle is much more fraught, and while I sometimes wonder if I’m just too old to read Middle Grade books anymore, this one reminded me how much these stories still mean to me, and how much I wish I’d had more books like this back in my day. *shakes my cane at the sky*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC of this book!

[Nicole M. Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written as an homage to Are You There God, It's Me Margaret, and it encapsulates the spirit of that classic beautifully. It perfectly captures the insecurities of adolescence and those feelings of being in-between, of not knowing if your body can be trusted. I think all kids will relate to these confusions in many ways (and will therefore connect to the story), but by reading Ollie's POV, they'll understand how the feelings are heightened for any kid who's questioning their gender. The story is insightful, raw, and emotional, and an important read for anyone--but I especially hope it makes it into the hands of every trans kid who needs to see themselves on the page and know that they are just right by just being.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a moving debut queer coming of age middle grade novel about Ollie who is scared about 'becoming a woman' and all that it entails. The more they dwell on the way their body is changing and how uncomfortable being a 'girl' feels, the more they start to question whether maybe a nonbinary identity fits them best. Sure to resonate with readers going through the same feelings, this book is a great addition to young queer lit and perfect for fans of books like Gooseberry by Robin Gow, Spin with me by Ami Polonsky or Green by Alex Gino. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Lorrie Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a vital new thing Jess Callans has given us with his debut middle-grade novel, Ollie In Between. I took a long time to read it; the main character's voice is so fresh, so resolutely original, that it left me both shaken and delighted. Every detail in this book feels tenderly thought out. The lush cover portrait shows Ollie with a sweet mustache and swirls of leg hair, at home amidst mushrooms and foliage. The title is at once understated and immovable, a manifesto.

This "modern take on Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret" pays several loving tributes to that pioneering middle-grade novel. Judy Blume's Margaret had one Christian and one Jewish parent and was pressured to choose a religion, despite being fine not identifying with one or the other. Ollie's "in between" travails extend to being bicultural, non-binary, neither child nor adult. Do you recall Margaret's rapturous initiation into the world of sanitary napkins? You will want to see Ollie's take on that rite of passage. I won't spoil it for you, but it's a worthy addition to menarcheal canon.

Ollie In Between pays just as much loving tribute to Melissa, the pioneering middle-grade novel by Alex Gino. That book, itself, went through a name transition: it was first published under the main character's deadname, then retitled properly. We see Ollie and their friends helping to correct the title on several copies at their local library.

Ollie is repelled by the tyranny of the narrative that children assigned female at birth are destined -- doomed -- to "bloom" into women. Apparently, though, puberty is coming with or without Ollie's consent and cannot be averted. That crisis plays into a Cinderella plotline in this book, with Ollie paying visits to a special tree to connect with their late mother.

One of the most quietly effective devices in the book is Ollie's way of taking note of something devastating with the thought, "It's just an observation." Ollie works hard to be what others expect: "borrowing" other people's facial expressions and practicing them for appropriate occasions, concentrating on making eye contact. Perhaps my favorite Ollie trait is their ongoing rumination on natural phenomena, comparing themself to mantis shrimp, worms and bees, mycelia -- a lot of invertebrates. It seems that Ollie has no trouble identifying as an organism; it's human convention that exhausts them.

I told author Jess Callans how much I loved Ollie's "neuroatypical digressions" and Callans told me he had taken care not to diagnose this character. He took care, as well, to write a story showing that there are many ways to be true to oneself, not a single "right" way to be a queer or non-binary middle schooler. Both the title character and the book are committed to that in-between openness rather than providing answers in a way that might close things off. For me, it's that commitment in Ollie's introverted, sometimes shaky, but always resolute voice that makes this book feel deeply respectful of middle schoolers and their complex thoughts. Look at the integrity in this passage from page 205. No one gets to define Ollie except Ollie.

You can't defy nature. Well, not that much.

And so maybe I never blossom.

And so maybe I don't need to.

Once a body has decomposed, it's actually a great place for fungal growth. That sounds gross, I know, and maybe you don't want to hear about it, but this is my story and it's amazing to think about the way an entire once-alive person can become the food source for a whole network of other creatures.

So some people bloom, but fungi are way cool, too.

I recommend this book without reservation. Conscientious and original. A treasure.

[Kendall · Rating 5 out of 5]

**🌟 Book Review: *Ollie In Between* by Jess Callans**
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)

*“People say you can choose to be brave, but people are wrong. You can’t defy nature.”*

Jess Callans’ *Ollie In Between* is a masterful middle-grade debut that pulses with emotional honesty, quiet courage, and unflinching truth. At once tender and powerful, this story captures the raw experience of being in that uncertain “in-between” space—between childhood and adolescence, between labels and expectations, between fear and self-acceptance.

### 🧒 **The Plot**

Ollie (short for Olive) is a twelve-year-old just trying to survive seventh grade. But navigating middle school becomes more than just awkward—it’s confusing, isolating, and sometimes heartbreaking. Ollie doesn’t fit neatly into the boxes the world expects—especially when it comes to gender identity. After accidentally outing themself in a sex-ed class, Ollie finds themself the target of bullying, misunderstanding, and rejection, even from their best friend.

Wrestling with body changes, social expectations, and growing apart from people who once felt like home, Ollie turns inward, creating lists and asking: *What does it really mean to grow up? What does it mean to be a girl—or not?* As Ollie loses old connections, they begin to find new ones—with people who accept them, challenge them, and help them see they aren’t alone.

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### 🎨 **What Makes It Special**

* **Unflinching voice**: Ollie’s narrative voice is biting, tender, and often heartbreakingly perceptive. Their use of scientific metaphors (especially the recurring theme of the mantis shrimp) makes the internal journey feel vivid and grounded.

* **Representation with care**: This book offers a rare and much-needed portrayal of a questioning, nonbinary protagonist in middle grade fiction. Callans handles gender identity, dysphoria, and social pressure with empathy and nuance.

* **Friendship and loss**: The unraveling of Ollie’s longtime friendship with Cal and Nate is handled with realism and pain. But new relationships—with characters like Dina and Stella—offer hope without ever feeling forced or tidy.

* **Family dynamics**: Grief quietly lingers throughout the book (Ollie’s mother has passed away), and their relationship with a well-meaning but sometimes oblivious dad and a high-achieving older sister adds rich complexity.

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### 💬 **Notable Quotes**

> *“People say you can choose to be brave, but people are wrong.”*
> *“You don’t just outgrow your friends. You can’t.”*
> *“What does it mean to be a woman, anyway?”*

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### 🎯 **Perfect for Readers Who:**

* Are navigating identity and change
* Want books in the spirit of *Melissa* by Alex Gino, *Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World* by Ashley Herring Blake, or *The Deepest Breath* by Meg Grehan
* Need a story that says “you are not alone” to kids who don’t feel like they fit

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### 📝 Final Thoughts

*Ollie In Between* isn’t just about identity—it’s about that terrifying, messy, brave thing called growing up. It’s about losing and finding, about breaking and becoming. Jess Callans has written something deeply human and essential. Middle-grade fiction needs this book. Kids need this book. And adults, honestly, could use a reminder too.

**Highly recommended.** 🌈